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“ WHETHER ” FORECAST Good Debt vs . Bad Debt
by Richard V . Lyschik , DDS , FAGD , CFE
It would be wonderful if we could all go through life completely free of debt . There are a fortunate few who are born into wealth and have enough money to provide for themselves and go through life free of debt . Then there are the rest of us who face debt as a fact of everyday life ( something you learn to contend with , live with , and yes , for many of us , die with it ). Unfortunately , it ’ s even something we can pass on to our children someday . If you are already wealthy , then you may want to read this article just to see how the rest of us live . If you are not one of the wealthy , then you should read this article closely .
It ’ s true that having no debt is the best , but if it is a fact of life for you , then it ’ s important that you keep certain things in mind when you are considering debt . There are basically two kinds of debt : bad debt and good debt . What kind of debt could be good when we ’ ve always been told that debt is bad ? Good debt is debt for an appreciating asset ; bad debt is for a depreciating asset . Good debt provides income ; bad debt provides expenses .
For example , education debt is a fact of life for many of us but we should view it as an investment in our future . We ’ d like to think it will provide us with an opportunity to increase our
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